Posted!

Join the Conversation

Comments

Welcome to our new and improved comments, which are for subscribers only.
This is a test to see whether we can improve the experience for you.
You do not need a Facebook profile to participate.

You will need to register before adding a comment.
Typed comments will be lost if you are not logged in.

Please be polite.
It's OK to disagree with someone's ideas, but personal attacks, insults, threats, hate speech, advocating violence and other violations can result in a ban.
If you see comments in violation of our community guidelines, please report them.

MOBILE — What began as a ploy to produce memorable engagement photographs set in motion the wildest 10 days of Bradley Bozeman’s life.

He finished his Alabama career as a national champion in walk-off fashion.

Minutes after the final pass was thrown, he proposed to girlfriend and former Tide women’s basketball player Nikki Hegstetter on the Mercedes-Benz Stadium turf with a ring he entrusted a program nutritionist to hold throughout the game.

"I never expected the proposal to take off the way it did,” Bozeman said. “I just wanted a few good pictures and it turned into a dang social media frenzy. But it's been a lot of fun.”

The next morning, he appeared on Good Morning America alongside quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. Gleefully, he pulled a beaming Hegstetter into the shot, too, when the hosts began to ask about his grand proposal.

The two smiled, Hegstetter again showed off the ring to a national audience.

When he returned to Tuscaloosa, Bozeman found his avenue to show off.

The Senior Bowl extended an invitation one day after the Tide’s 26-23 victory over Georgia, an awaited call for Alabama’s two-year starting center and Roanoke native who realizes how important this week-long showcase is for a player like him.

“This is really big for me,” Bozeman said. “I just want to come out and show what kind of player I am, show that I can pick up these schemes, I can move around, I can learn the offense and call the offense. Talk to some of these scouts and show them my value as a player and a person."

Measuring 6-foot-4 at the event’s official weigh-in on Tuesday morning, Bozeman knows he must shed some weight if he is to continue as a center.

He weighed 317 pounds on Tuesday — aligning with his plan for now — but hopes to dip to 305 by Alabama’s pro day.

With those weight issues, Bozeman’s athleticism and agility is called into question.

On a teleconference last week, ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. labeled Bozeman an undrafted free agent who was an “overachieving college center” who “got the most of his ability” but would have to “scratch and claw” to make an NFL roster.

Though Bozeman scoffed at the blunt assessment on Tuesday, he acknowledged some of the faults he must rectify in the three months before the NFL draft.

Buy Photo

Alabama lineman Bradley Bozeman talks to the media during a College Football Playoff press conference in New Orleans, La. on Thursday December 28, 2017.(Photo: Mickey Welsh / Advertiser)

"Just my redirection,” Bozeman said. “My athletic ability kind of lags a little bit, but I make up for it by trying hard and knowing the offense, knowing how to play and capitalizing on my strengths to hide some of my weaknesses."

“He’s handled a lot of calls in the middle of the offense and helped a lot of the young quarterbacks, for sure,” said Savage, who also serves as the color analyst for Alabama football radio broadcasts. “He’s a bigger center, he’s massive on the inside, I would say that center first, guard second. He has some position flexibility in that regard.”

Bozeman said he got experience “everywhere from left tackle to right tackle” while at Alabama. His preference is to stay at center but he had little issue with moving inside, should a team ask him to do so. During the South team’s first full practice on Tuesday, he played exclusively center.

"I told them I'm open to playing wherever,” Bozeman said. “Wherever they put me, I'm open to it. I'd like to play center, but like I said, I'll play anywhere."